They Who Commune With Ghosts
by DovahGeneral
Summary: It all began on the last day of June in the year 1998. In what was supposed to be shortcut through a defunct cemetery soon became the catalyst for the start of a tale of a certain boy with his head in the clouds, and how both the mortal realm and afterlife were more closely connected than any person could anticipate.
1. Chapter One: Asakura Yoh

**Disclaimer:** The following is a non-profit and fan-based work of fiction not affiliated with the original product. Shaman King is owned and created by Takei Hiroyuki, Shueisha, Madman Entertainment, and Viz Media. Please support the official release.

 **Story Notes:** There may be some scenes and themes that are disturbing to some readers. Please be advised. The following story is both a novelization and Alternate Universe Fic based on both the source material manga, anime, and supplementary materials. There are changes to the universe, characters, abilities, and plot for the narrative written. This fanfiction will be updated every Monday until further notice. For more information, thoughts, and updates, please head to my main profile on and the **Author's Notes** at the bottom. Please enjoy the story.

Update #1: Some grammar fixed, and replaced some em dashes with commas to remove emphasis.

* * *

It was on the thirtieth of June in the early summer of 1998 that the world around Oyamada Manta shifted in a direction unheard of to the young student boy.

It all began when he began to realize that he lacked the time needed to get to his train home if he remained on his usual path thanks to cram school lessons and, with some, but little thought, decided to take instead a shortcut through a local graveyard nearby to reach the station in time.

He had heard of some others in his class take the same route in times of desperation, but it was obviously less popular than other paths to take due to its morbid atmosphere, and the fear of breaking some of the old graves on the hill due to the centuries taking their toll on the stonework.

Some of the more religious folk seemed to just desire to not disturbing the spirits that laid under the earth, and a few of the class representatives had to announce that some would be punished for disturbing the area thanks to an incident that Manta failed to recall which angered the staff when complaints came in.

Whatever the case was, however, he knew that if he missed the train, he would be stuck at the station for hours to come, and such a thought was not appealing to the thirteen-year-old. As such, he decided to run for it and managed to hop one of the shorter fences to enter the cemetery.

Upon entering the place did he feel a certain emotion known as dread. It followed him as he sprinted past the resting place of hundreds if not a thousand, but the knowledge that he was to be stranded otherwise kept him moving.

By the time he had reached the middle of the cemetery he had felt a bit out of breath thanks to the size of the place being larger than anticipated. He panted as he forced his short legs to make the final stretch, but it was the glimpse of a figure on top of the hill which made him stop in his tracks.

Believing it to be nothing more than a shadow originally, Manta became stunned upon taking a closer glance at what he saw. There, sitting upon one of the stone markers adorned underneath a tree, was a boy wearing orange headphones upon his head.

Like most his age, the boy stood taller than Manta by a good few feet with a slim build and spiky brown hair with a strand of it hovering in front of his face. His brown eyes did not notice Manta's existence, but instead the Moon, staring at the celestial body in peace.

As he stared at the fellow human being, Manta felt the urge to call out to him, but a fear in his heart kept any noise from being emitted. In this moment of internal exchange did his own eyes take a gander at the watch on his wrist and he realized a specific show that night, a comedy serial, was about be aired not too long from then.

Once more did he make his feet move and once more did they stop upon hearing the movement of the boy's body from his right. Looking up, Manta soon found himself in the sight of the mysterious person, a small smile plastered on the face. The moonlight gave way to a better look at his features, all of which indicated he could not be any older than he was.

A brief exchange was given around the concept of stargazing and the benefit of the elevated position on top of the hill before he began to walk downwards. Manta—trying to avoid any confrontation with the person—questioned who would want to watch the stars or something relating to the subject matter.

He couldn't remember how the conversation went from there, but upon the boy saying that everyone there appreciated the sight of the faraway lights did Manta correct him by arguing that one usually wouldn't refer to two people as everybody.

Then all his friends showed up in a moment's instance to prove his point pointless.

The day after that incident on the hill did Manta reveal the event to his fellow students in Class C what had just occurred the night prior with all details given.

He was met with an audience who laughed and proclaimed that what he saw must have either been in his mind, or that he was simply pulling their leg. After all, the statements given fail to have any basis in reality, something everyone agreed to with ease.

Manta, for all his anger towards his peers for the attitude given to him, understood where they came from. Rationally, it made no sense that his story could happen in real life. It just doesn't happen and any time someone who argued it did usually were proven the liar at the end of the day.

But he knew what he saw, and he knew that the boy was most assuredly not pranking him or anything. The tone and even his smile seemed far too genuine, too inviting and nonchalant that it could indicate something on that nature.

Even if he was a good enough actor, when his friends showed up it was clear from the get-go that it was no special effects, no nothing on those lines. But he could not figure out how to explain in a way that would convince them while at the same time not making a fool of himself.

As he pondered on what to say did his teacher announce that an exchange student from the west had arrived from Izumo of Shimane Prefecture. He paid no attention to the student who would be sharing the classroom with him, instead still thinking on what to make of the situation last night.

Then the student was told to take a spot next to Manta, and he, with the desire to be courteous, decided to forgo of his problem for now and instead greet the new student.

Then he saw the familiar sight of orange headphones and the look that was created from the emotions of Manta could be described as a mixture of shock, terror, lament, and an odd bit of excitement.

A thud noise echoed throughout the classroom as student and teacher alike took gaze at the now fallen seventh year with concern and wonder. The new student only gave a brief smile before sitting down in his assigned seat. Manta on the other hand, with great vigor, erupted one statement on the ground.

"Y-Y-YOU'RE THE ONE! THE ONE FROM LAST NIGHT, THE ONE I WAS TALKING ABOUT! YOU'RE THE GHOST BOY!"

* * *

 **Chapter One: Asakura Yoh**

"Why is this guy so difficult to comprehend?" thought Manta as he sat on the hill in the graveyard. He remembered that night how he had just undergone the entire day in school, mostly his homeroom period, just trying to figure out who the new arrival—whose name Asakura Yoh as stated by himself—really was.

It wasn't as if he didn't talk at all or was an aggressive person that intimidated him. The problem was that in all his thirteen years of life had Oyamada Manta ever experience a person with as little drive as Yoh had.

In the entire homeroom period was a mess as Yoh had managed to bring himself to a slumber within the first five minutes, managing to avoid any punishment from the teacher by waking up at the right time as to not reveal what he had been doing the entire hour.

When math started, he found himself asleep again, but this time the teacher caught wind of his actions and personally reprimanded him. Rather than an awkward or humorous situation, the people inside Class C found themselves baffled by his inability to process his own name in his stupor.

These events seemingly repeated themselves for the next classes until lunch finally started. As many left the room to eat in the cafeteria or took out their food to eat, Manta, who had a lunch personally made for him by his folks' staff, found Yoh walking outside by his lonesome.

Curious as to what he was doing, Manta left his meal in peace and followed him in secret with the intention of getting a better feel for his character. Once more did this plan fail spectacularly.

Instead of getting anything out of him, Manta only got the knowledge that Yoh was more than interested in being one with nature, taking in the sunlight while observing the wild animals play around in their respective homes.

The most interesting thing that he did there was smiling and giggling at a small baby duck that waddled out of the pond and picking at his shoes, but there was no indication once more that he had any connections with spirits of any kind.

That trip lasted the entire lunch period and it was safe to say that he was also not a fan of failing to get his daily meal. By the later periods of the day, Manta decided to call it quits, feeling that if he was to continue this personal mission he would find himself wasting more time than getting actual information.

As he walked home—this time without the issue of cram school taking up his hours and the kendō club he was forced to be a part of not meeting that day—the faint smell of smoke managed to catch the attention of him. He turned around to see just where it was coming from before the sirens of a firetruck indicated this was a rather large flame.

Walking around some homes, he along with a large crowd of pedestrians, surrounded what seemed to be an engulfed apartment complex with smoke that managed to cover some parts of the sky with the intensity of the fire being that great.

He coughed as some of it entered his lungs and small tears formed around his eyes from the smoke as well. Wanting to figure out what was going on, the conversations from those surrounding him revealed the flame to originate from a cigarette on the second story floor managing to engulf the building when igniting some leaking gas, or at least that was the story they agreed upon.

The perpetrator of the fire was burned, but managed to escape with rather minor injuries compared to the damage the infrastructure was taking. After the alarm went off did the staff manage to get the residents outside in record speed.

Still, there were also murmurs about there being some people still inside despite the majority managing to get out in time, but with the firemen still needing time to arrive along with the inability to enter the place as of right now because of the damaged doorway made it difficult to go and check.

"How horrid," muttered Manta, staring at the building with feelings of pity for anyone trapped inside. Looking around, the only person of note he saw was a rather short boy with spiky blue hair and a rather expensive looking yellow jack with a case containing what was presumably clothes.

He seemed to not be from the area and a had a feeling of an alien presence surrounding him. Notably, he also saw what seemed to be the silhouette of a large man next to him, but he ignored him for the most part as the smoke was obscuring most everybody with how much was now engulfing the street.

Cars began to slow down, making it more difficult to get the hoses to combat the flames. As if to make matters worse, the cry of children now began to reach both the people and Manta on the streets, revealing that not only were there people still inside, but they were also of young age.

Manta and the rest gasped as a brief opening in the smoke reveal that on one of the highest floor wailed out three children—a lone boy and two girls. Some of the more emotional folks began to weep as the tragedy played out in front of their very eyes. Some looked away while others screamed at those in their cars to make way for the firemen.

A few lacked any emotion towards this revelation and instead went on with their very lives, pretending that this incident never happened. One of these fellows was the boy in yellow and the large man, both of which walked away from the scene, much to Manta's disappointment.

As the people began to panic, a few people took their glances away from the flame and instead towards one of the restaurants that also ignited by the fire. Manta—wondering what was going on—turned his gaze as well to see Yoh soaking himself with water used to cook the rice in the once existing food establishment.

Then his fellow student rushed into the building through a broken window which bypassed the now ruined entrance. The entirety of the witnesses began to cry out for him not to go, but a few souls stayed silent as they patiently awaited his return.

Manta himself was shocked by the act, and both his mind and words became nothing as he tried to piece together what Yoh had decided to do. If there was one thing he managed to get out of everything, it was that Yoh seemed to lack any form of arrogance or aggression, instead enjoying what the world gave him rather than be mad at it.

Despite knowing he was far from an evildoer, it pained Manta to wait for him to come back if he did at all. The firemen by this point had managed to reach the area and quickly they moved, managing to attack with their hoses.

The concentrated fire of water against the flaming building began to show results as the doorway was soon extinguished. Some of them concentrated on the buildings that caught on fire as a result of the apartment to avoid spread, leaving Yoh and the children in a still burning building, although even concentrated efforts probably would take hours at best.

A feeling of dread—even more so than the one yesterday—went through Manta as his mind began to wonder into territory he rather not enter. He combated his rational side with the knowledge that Yoh was not an ordinary student, that he was seemingly someone of extraordinary background if he could speak and see spirits.

But reality was that, and Manta began to ponder why he had thought so negatively of the person that day, why had he put so much attention on the fact that he was associating with spirits rather than getting to know him through direct conversation.

Just why did he go in to begin with? Perhaps he would know if he decided to be more trusting with him earlier, but now it was too late.

"I didn't want anything to bad to happen with him. I mean, it's not like he did anything wrong really..."

As the depressing thoughts entered his mind did they disappear when a cry of joy rang out from the crowd. He turned his gaze from the ground and towards the front entrance where Yoh—carrying all three children—exited through the now hazardless entrance thanks to the efforts of the firemen.

Dropping them off into the arms of their mother and father, Manta watched as the figure of a man exited Yoh's body. He was far larger than Yoh and stood at a height that indicated he was an adult with the fact that he was floating giving him the impression that he was a ghost like the ones from before.

It then became obvious that it was a fireman's spirit who seemingly exited Yoh's body, the man smiling as he floated towards the firetruck. Yoh gave his silent thanks as he walked away from the scene, managing somehow to escape the attention of the civil workers.

Manta then noticed that Yoh was coming directly for him, and tried in vain to think of something to say to him. Before anything of worth came to him, he found himself in the gaze of the smiling boy once again for the second time that week.

"Come with me," Yoh asked. He grabbed Manta's hand and the later found himself walking alongside the savior of three lives back to the cemetery. He didn't know why he went along, but he made no complaints.

They managed to arrive at the place in a short period of time, walking through the small patches of grass before making it up to the top of the hill. Manta noticed that one of the grave markers had been smashed in by some object of substantial strength and turned into rubble, the same one Yoh sat upon last night.

Yoh, noticing his gaze, smiled sadly at the sight. "Yeah, it seems someone came after both you and I left the area. According to the spirits, it was some rather tall guy wearing a white suit or something. Done in by a wooden sword of all things."

"That's just disrespectful," noted Manta. "Why would anyone even do that? I mean, yeah, some people lack respect for the dead, but why would they even be here. I mean, you're the only person I've met who knows about ghosts and stuff, although we just met yesterday."

"Yeah, speaking of which, sorry about ignoring you in class," chuckled Yoh, remembering how he proclaimed that there no such thing as ghosts before zoning him and the rest of the student body earlier. Manta felt no need to say anything, instead sitting upon the grass of the hill.

A silence passed between the duo as the day started to shift into the night as the evening sky had a tint of red with some smoke from earlier still covering parts of it. The two simply stared at it in ease, ignoring for the most part the spirits who seemed to come out.

The shorter of the two recognized that his family, or at least the staff, would question why he stayed out so late, and decided to tell them that he had to go to his club to discuss future events, even though that said club was for the most part empty thanks to the president moving away not too long ago.

"So, what are you exactly?" finally spoke Manta. There was more confidence in his voice than before. "You somehow used the ghost from earlier to save the children's lives, right? How did you do that?"

"Oh, him." Yoh continued to gaze upwards as the conversation shifted. "He died in a fire that took the lives of a few civilians and he failed to move on because of the guilt of not saving them. He seems to stick around to the truck he was assigned to make sure the new people do a better job than he."

"And if you really want to know what I am, well, it can be summed up as I'm a shaman, but I have a feeling you don't even knowing what that is, do you?" The feeling of confusion that formed on Manta's face gave Yoh the answer.

"Well, we're people who can bind this world and the next. We have the ability to work with the deceased to use their abilities here and all sorts of stuff. Some can heal, some can summon spirits, and there are even tales of those bringing the dead back to life, but I have some skepticism on that as I've never seen that done before, although someone I know argues they exist."

Feeling overwhelmed by the information granted to him, Manta tried to ask him to slow down, but stayed quiet as a serious expression grew on Yoh's face. The later looked towards the grave before picking up what seemed to be another grave marker—which he plucked from the ground with the permission of the marker's owner—before walking downhill.

"Sorry, it seems that our conversation will have to wait a bit, Manta." He took a stance directly towards the front entrance of the cemetery. Some of the ghosts in the area took notice and began to crowd about him.

Manta, with curiosity, looked at the name of the broken marker. Upon realizing who it was, he became even more astonished that someone would tarnish the resting place of who was the most renowned warrior of the general area before a large number of footsteps alerted him that they weren't alone.

"Um, Yoh," Manta began. "Why exactly did we come back here again?" Nervousness began to take a hold on him as the footstep were accompanied by loud shouting and other sorts of frightening noises. Given the fact that Yoh seemed to be swinging the marker to test it out in the air like a weapon, he assumed the worst.

He slowly walked over to Yoh's position before spotting a rather large group of teenagers and young adults. Each other them carried something that can be interpreted as weapons—baseball bats, long rulers, and anything else for bludgeoning—but one of them—a rather tall fellow with a pompadour that reached absurd lengths—carried with him a wooden sword, the only formal weapon among the group.

Remembering what Yoh said earlier about the grave, Manta tried to hide by using his short stature behind one of the larger graves, but a jeer from one of the men gave him the impression that he was already spotted alongside his peer.

The two stood side by side against a group that went into the dozens in quantity, at least thirty men in the gang. The pompadour man—most likely the leader of the group—stepped forward with a grin stuck on his face.

"What do we have here now," he spat out excitedly. "We just found this spot yesterday and declared it our Best Place if you don't mind. If you value personal health we would advise you to go away before you boys get hurt."

"And if I don't," declared Yoh. Manta looked at him in shock, wondering if he brought over here because he wanted backup for a fight, something Manta felt he had no ability in whatsoever. Some of the gang members laughed upon hearing the answer to Manta's fears.

The man gave out a bellowing laugh in the evening sky. "Well, that is a good question. If you don't scram within the next few moments, I'll have to show you why the entirety of Tokyo fears me as "Wooden Sword" Ryu. Don't tell me you're here to challenge me?"

"Well, I did want to meet the person who was here from last night," Yoh replied. He took a stance with the wooden marker and stared down the group. "The grave you busted up was that of Amidamaru, correct? The legendary samurai?"

"Of course he did!" declared one of the henchmen, enthusiasm crawling out of his teeth. "They say that he was a monster from six hundred years ago who slaughtered around a hundred men within a single night after betraying his lord. They say those in the past created the grave to keep his spirit from haunting the land, but I doubt that even if he did come back would he be able to trump Ryu!"

Manta, like most in the area, knew of the tale of Amidamaru, a samurai who betrayed his lord in the fifteenth century who decided to cut down those said hundred men in combat. The ruler was that of Izu Province, and the incident was said to be the reason behind the fall of the ruler's clan thanks to the sheer destruction of lives and morale by the samurai warrior.

Despite his notorious reputation, the sword master was the most renowned person in this part of Japan, meaning he was of great importance for the area's name. The fact that they could tarnish what acted as a reminding legacy of his life was quite astounding to say the very least.

All the gang members let out a great cheer in agreement as they continued to praise their leader. As this went on, a great man of huge stature began to form behind Yoh. Soon his body began to manifest into the world with long white hair and a ruined outfit adorning his body.

"Some friends of mine told me about him," Yoh said. "Seeing how you're a friend of mine, I decided that I would show you just what I do, but try to stay back to get yourself hurt."

"Friend," muttered Manta out loud. Shaking his head to pay attention, he took a closer note at the new spirit who had appeared to stand by Yoh. Even compared to the giant that was Ryu, compared to him the white-haired man was a giant, a great scowl marked on his face.

Holding out his hand, the large man behind Yoh suddenly materialized fully. Two swords were attached to his hips with red lamellar acting as shoulder guards.

Manta with slow realization understood just who was with Yoh at that very moment. Ryu seemed tired of this entire charade and nudged for two of his goons—Apache and Space Shot—to knock the two students out cold.

Yoh only smirked as the two of them slowly approached him and Manta. The later was horrified as their smiles became wider and wider, falling onto the grass in terror.

"Amidamaru!" Yoh called out, surprising both Apache and Space Shot. "Do you truly wish to fight alongside me today against these guys?"

"Of course, Lord Yoh!" the large spirit called out in response. "I truly must thank you for this opportunity to rid myself of these people who have granted me such humiliation on this day."

As the two tried to process what the younger boy was doing, Yoh brought out his hand to his side and swept it at Amidamaru, turning his body into a small ball-like form with his face on it. Manta stared at the action with interest and surprise, wondering what was going on.

"First I turn him into his Hitodama Mode and then…" He placed the sphere that was the legendary samurai directly into his chest, creating a large shine of light to emerge from his body.

The rays of white light nearly blinded Manta as he desperately attempted to get a better look at what was happening. While the two thugs seemed to be unfazed, Ryu on the other hand seemed to have noticed something as he himself winced back slightly.

Suddenly, before the two henchmen could react, one of them took the brunt of the wooden marker to the face, being sent flying towards one of the graves with ease. The other attempted to attack in response, but was jabbed twice in the gut before landing on his back.

Ryu, shocked at what had occurred, watched as some of his gang became tense at the sight and started to form up in little pocket groups. "Muscle Boy! Keep them from interfering in the fight! Leave the brat to me."

"Huh, I guess you're either overtly confident or you actually care about your guys," noted Yoh. He took position once more, but found himself taking the full force of Ryu's swing of his wooden blade, making the younger of the two stumble backwards.

"Amidamaru seems impressed by your strength, but it isn't enough to beat me," smirked Yoh. Ryu once more slammed his sword at Yoh with great determination, but was thrown back himself by a parry.

He managed to get a footing on the ground, but now Yoh was on the offensive. Angered, Ryu cried out, "Don't mess with me! I'll show you why I'm known as "Wooden Sword" Ryu!" before charging at him.

The cockiness of Ryu, however, proved fatal as Yoh managed to land a strike on his rib, smashing into him with enough force to send him flying back similarly to his henchman. Unlike the later though, Ryu was prepared to be hit and got back onto his feet in record time.

"Incredible…" muttered Manta as he and the rest of Ryu's gang watched the fight unfold. Even though Ryu was someone who seemed to earn his namesake, he was most definitely being trumped by his junior opponent.

Upon Ryu decided to attack once more to end the fight in its entirety, he felt wind brush against his face which culminated in him falling onto his knees. His face gave way all his emotions, that being sorrow and fear.

The tip of his pompadour was cleanly sliced off by Yoh and the wooden marker, leaving a rather flat tip behind. Tears welled up in his eyes as he watched what seemed to be his most prized possession become scattered to the wind.

Some of his fellow gang members also felt true agony watching their leader be defeated so swiftly. A silence was exchanged between both sides before Ryu managed to bring himself onto his feet.

Standing still, he turned to face Yoh with a grimace on his face. Sweat beads fell down his head and before anyone could react did he throw his wooden sword to Muscle Boy. "I will not fight a battle that will get my guys hurt…"

He turned around and walked towards his group. "It seems that this cemetery of yours is not to be our Best Place. I'm sorry for what I have done to the grave and if his spirit is watching, I apologize to him as well. But hear this everyone! We shall find a Best Place one day for ourselves, and on that day, we shall find true happiness!"

"Ryu…" cried out his supporters, every last one of them having tears in their eyes. Before either Yoh or Manta knew it, all members of the gang solemnly left the premises, going somewhere unknown to the two, and probably unknown to the travelers themselves.

"Is it bad that I feel somewhat piteous towards them?" Yoh question out loud. The group had by this point vanished for parts unknown, leaving behind both Yoh and Manta along with the spirit of Amidamaru behind in the cemetery as if the battle had not taken place.

"Well," said Yoh after a few seconds. "It seems the Oversoul was a complete success at any rate. I hope your happy with the results, Amidamaru."

"Y-you." Yoh turned around after having Amidamaru leave his body and faced his shorter friend. "You bound yourself with the ghost to gain his abilities… Is that what you meant earlier?"

"Pretty much." Yoh smiled as Amidamaru gave a thoughtful nod before the later returned to his broken grave on the hill, leaving the shaman to the mass of ghosts who shouted and congratulated him on the victory against Ryu.

It was an amazing sight as Manta watched from afar. All the dead began to seemingly bring out drinks from who knows where, drinking themselves drunk even though they were already dead and without the physical capacity to enter such a stupor.

Yoh only seemed to joke around with some of them as they thanked him for his actions, handwaving off any suggestions for him to become a guardian of the place twenty-four seven.

Sitting down on the top of hill, he wondered to himself, "Why is this guy so difficult to comprehend?" Turning back down at the now party of dead and sole member of the living, a small smile grew on his face.

"Well, I guess it really doesn't matter right now," he agreed to himself as the night went on. He would have to go home sooner than later, but for now he was perfectly content to be here alongside the dead as much as they disturbed him.

Little did he truly know that this was the beginning of a friendship with a man who would warp the way of not only himself, but many others lived their lives in not only Japan, but all parts of the world.

But on that night, all he did was quietly appreciate his new friendship with the mysterious boy who could commune with the dead.

* * *

 **Author's Notes:** Shaman King is—to me—one of the nostalgic works in the shōnen style of work. While I grew up with many different anime, manga, cartoons, movies, and whatnot, Shaman King just interested me for some unknown reason. Perhaps it was the characters or the concept, but to this day I have fond memories of the series as a whole.

Now, there is a lot of issues that really keep the manga from aging as well as others, but I personally find it fine for what it is, although all complaints are legitimate. As this is a semi-novelization and Alternate Universe Fic, there will be differences based around how I think some things could be better, but don't assume I hate things I change. It's more based around how my own story flows rather than the original, and you may find the story to be incredibly similar in how it progresses and ends to the original work.

I am also going using more things from the manga rather than the anime as there's a lot of good material not used for more anime original aspects which allowed it to have its own individual tale by the end, including Shaman King Zero and the other works that were published after the series end.

In terms of how characters will be written, as seen with Ryu's fight some may be more competent than others and some may lose their general strength to keep the gap from feeling too wide to surpass, something by the end of the manga most readers will know did occur, but for reasons that if one thought about made sense given how highly built up the villain was from the start. That's not to say it was a bad thing and I personally enjoyed some parts of that specific fact, but the story will have characters with powers closer in efficiency and ability to one another more so than the original work.

I know that as Shaman King's fandom is rather miniscule nowadays and this story will get little to no attention, but to those who still read the manga, watch the anime, or browse sites for fan works, I thank you for taking time from your day to read one of the first things I have finished in a year or so. I hope that you'll continue reading until the end and give your personal feelings on how my work was—good or bad. As such, I'll hopefully see you next update.


	2. Chapter Two: Motivations

**Disclaimer:** The following is a non-profit and fan-based work of fiction not affiliated with the original product. Shaman King is owned and created by Takei Hiroyuki, Shueisha, Madman Entertainment, and Viz Media. Please support the official release.

 **Story Notes:** This fanfiction will be updated every Monday until further notice. For more information, thoughts, and updates, please head to my main profile and the **Author's Notes** at the bottom. Please enjoy the story.

* * *

 **Chapter Two: Motivations**

"Can you please explain to me why did you want to come here again?" Manta asked his friend, trying with all of his ability of reasoning to figure out the purpose behind Yoh's desire for a field trip in this building out of everywhere in Tokyo.

He was still going with him for he was asked to bring him here, but he couldn't help but admit it was weird to see Yoh being so serious about this little project of his.

Deciding to accept the fact his friend who personified laziness itself was not going to speak anytime soon, he walked by his side as they entered the local archives nearby in the hopes of finding what the headphone wearing boy desired.

They entered an exhibit on the many samurai legends who originated in the area, giving way to why Yoh asked Manta earlier that day to bring him here behind a display of glass.

That said reason was sitting right in front of them—a broken sword of an era long since passed that represented the pinnacle of a man's career, a blade created by a smith whose name has since been renowned in the land for his skill in sword making.

Harusame was the name of the katana. Once used by Amidamaru himself, the sword now was an attraction for tourists behind a glass display, its usage showing as the steel was unpolished, rusted, and chipped all over.

The number of battles it had seen must have reached the hundreds if the wear was anything to say about its history. Although Manta knew Amidamaru was the wielder of the weapon, he was still unsure as to why Yoh wanted to see the sword.

"Uh, Yoh," began Manta curiously. "Can I ask now what do you want with the thing? I mean, I see that thing every time I come to study here, so what's the rush?"

"I just wanted to know if it was here," Yoh answered Manta, staring at the sword with a smile. "Now that I know, it's time to do some work."

"Work?" Manta asked as he noticed there was someone else nearby—an adult of huge stature and clothing that indicated he was from the feudal period, his muscled body being covered by the fabric.

"If things go well here, I think it's safe to say that I'll be able to convince Amidamaru to work with me from now on, so I'm counting on you!"

"Huh," the man said out loud, surprised by Yoh's acknowledgement of him. It became obvious that he was a spirit of some kind, but Manta wondered what exactly what Yoh was planning before realizing what he said.

"WORK WITH HIM!" he cried out, horrified that his friend failed to recognize the reason behind such an outburst. "Yoh, to call you an idiot is just not true, but I think it's safe to say you're insane if you want to work with Amidamaru!"

"Amidamaru!" exclaimed the ghost, but was pushed aside by Yoh, his smile not leaving his face. "What, I think he's not such a bad person to partner up with. I mean, don't you think it would cool to have him around? Incredibly strong, good with a sword, has a reputation of being a demon…"

"That's kind of the problem here," said Manta, now fully convinced the shaman was in fact insane. "I mean, he's not someone to be around at all. He's known for being a monster because he betrayed his former lord. That doesn't inspire much in the résumé department."

"Maybe, but I think he's just misunderstood," Yoh stated with confidence. "Besides, he helped us before during the time we first met. It's been a while since then and still he doesn't want to help me out despite visiting him all the time, so I have to do this."

"Uh, may I ask how do you know about Amidamaru, and more importantly, you say you've met him?"

The two students faced the deceased man upon remembering he was still with them there in the archives. Yoh was the first to answer, seemingly full of energy upon meeting the man.

"Yeah, we've met him before, but that's not important. I just wanted to meet you here in case the legend was true, and here you are, the blacksmith—Momosuke."

"Mosuke," he corrected Yoh, still baffled as to how he had the ability to see him. "I didn't know my name was known in the modern day, but Amidamaru seems to have become a local legend, which is good for him, but that's besides the point if you wanted to meet me."

Yoh nodded and proceeded to point towards the katana, Mosuke realizing what he was here for. "I just wanted to know more about the blade if you don't mind me asking."

"I guess I can do so," the smith answered back. He became tense as he stared at the sword with a look of hatred, his fist clinching together, intimidating Manta as he it looked as if he was getting ready to attack.

"You must know, though, that if you wish to know more about the blade, than you must also realize that I'm the one to have killed its owner."

The two looked in shock after hearing his confession, Yoh a little less so, but to both, something was off about the admittance. Manta, with more courage now born from the curiosity now formed which needed to be sated, walked up to the man with a questioning demeanor.

"That can't be possible," he declared to the ghost. "He was killed in battle after betraying his master, so how could you have killed him as you're not a warrior, but a blacksmith?"

"Indeed, I am a blacksmith," the ghost reinforced Manta's statement. "But if you know the tale of that blade, you know that I'm the one who forged it, and it is because of my own failings did he die on that very day."

"Your own failings?" Mosuke saw that the two desired further answers to his statement and reluctantly steeled himself to give them the answers they so desired out of him.

"I have known him since six hundred years ago, being older than him by a few years, but never the fighter he was," he began the story. "He and I were of a group of orphans who banded together to survive when the shogunate began to lose favor in the country, men forming their own little domains in Japan. You should know of that period for it is when the samurai was at their peak, acting as the warriors and nobles who ran the world."

"We had just joined a daimyō of the area after gaining some reputation for our skills," he reminisced without joy. "We both thought that things were going to be great, no longer hungry or fearful of being killed out in the open, but things went sour in less than a month into our service…"

"What do you mean?" asked Manta. Yoh quietly took out something made of stone while the man continued telling the story to Manta, placing it nearby away from their vision. He made sure it could not be seen by covering it with a potted plant, pushing the leaves closer to it.

He had heard of this tale beforehand admittedly when he visited Amidamaru in the many attempts in the past after the battle in the cemetery against Ryu to get him to fight alongside him, failing to convince the samurai to act to him as his Guardian Ghost, much to his disappointment and frustration.

It was not Amidamaru that told him the story though, but instead one of the ghosts closer to him who decided to reveal why he refused the call to battle, creating the desire to come here in the first place.

"He was told to kill you!"

"It seems they got to that part of the story," thought Yoh as he heard his friend shout in response. He returned to the two to find Manta pestering Mosuke to continue telling the story, not satisfied just yet.

"Yes, they tried to kill me," continued Mosuke solemnly. "The lord of the land became fascinated by my work with steel, and set out to kill me to avoid any other blades of the same caliber from being made, ordering Amidamaru—my best friend—to assassinate me. He refused to do so, meaning other men were sent out to do the deed, leaving me in my current state of affairs. But before then, I promised him something beforehand."

He looked at the blade once again, the hatred once more returning as he vainly slammed his fist through the glass, making Manta flinch at his hatred towards his own creation which was prized by the local area as a relic of the past.

"If I just made a better blade, if I completed in making the best Harusame, he would be alive! If he had the damned sword when the men jumped him, he would be—"

"What? So all that happened was you became upset over not finishing Harusame?" Yoh asked disappointedly. "Geez, I thought it was worse, like you creating the weapon that killed him or something on the lines of that, but not finishing a sword?"

"How can you say that!" Mosuke cried out. "He was attacked by the men who swore loyalty to the same lord who called for my head! If I managed to forge the blade in time before my own demise, he would've survived to tell the tale today!"

"I mean, he would've died of old age either way."

"TAKE IT MORE SERIOUSLY!" Mosuke panted out of breath despite lacking the physical organs needed to become fatigued in the first place, his energy on the subject draining him despite already being dead. It was an amusing sight to say the very least.

Manta on the other hand simply teared up, mumbling that Amidamaru was not the demon he thought he originally was, saying that he would ask for forgiveness later to himself, continuing to weep on how he was a jerk for thinking such things.

Yoh couldn't help but chuckle at the sight of the two overreacting, continuing his laughter even as Mosuke continued to call for him to act more seriously towards his tragic tale. He wiped his eye as he eyed the stone creation he left on the floor.

"Look, I usually don't force ghosts to come with me as I think it's a bit cruel and forceful, but I had to do it in this situation. Hopefully you understand now after hearing your friend's story, Amidamaru."

Mosuke looked at the shaman in shock, realizing what his words meant. Suddenly from the hidden stonework came out the white-haired samurai, a small tear dripping down his face as he approached his old friend.

"Amidamaru?" exclaimed Manta as he watched the former friends face one another after centuries of being apart. They both looked at one another awkwardly before Mosuke attempted to flee the scene.

"Mosuke!" called out Amidamaru as he tried to race for him, but was kept back by the stone object—his memorial tablet—which limited his ranged of manifestation. Similarly, the blacksmith was also kept from fleeing far thanks to his attachment towards the sword no matter how much he claimed he despised it, forcing him to face his friend.

"I-I can't do this," Mosuke said. "I can't face him after everything! I didn't get to forge the blade!"

"Mosuke… You—"

"No, Amidamaru! I know you haven't said anything yet, but if you tell me to forgive myself, I cannot. It isn't just a promise to you, but to me as well. If I just said nothing wrong had occurred, I'd be lying to myself. I failed and that's that!"

Before anyone could react any further, Yoh swiped his hand towards the blacksmith, forcibly transforming him into his Hitodama Mode, making a small ball with his face on it similarly to how he transformed Amidamaru weeks before.

Mosuke attempted to wriggle his way out of Yoh's grip, but the shaman had different plans for the blacksmith as he calmed his nerves in preparation.

Manta and Amidamaru realized what he was doing as he allowed himself to become possessed to form an Oversoul with the blacksmith, a light shining from the body once again.

Soon they saw an expression never seen before on Yoh—one of seriousness and absolute diligence. He stood up and grinned at them both.

"I know that this a bit fast paced for you, but I think we can finally make that blade of yours now, Mosuke. Oh, Manta, do you of any blacksmiths around here by the way?"

* * *

Manta watched with worry as Yoh played around with Harusame without care in public, forcing his friend to put down the newly remade blade before they would get into trouble.

It was an odd thing remembering how things went down after meeting the blacksmith in the archives as they headed for a modern-day blacksmith to help reforge the katana using Manta's money, something he wasn't a fan of doing, but decided to contribute as it would help the ghost he so sympathized with.

The result was a beautiful blade of high quality steel that surpassed the poor iron used during both Amidamaru and Mosuke's era. Manta knew that Yoh would need to return it eventually, but had a feeling he was keeping it around for some reason.

At any rate, they left the two spirits to their lonesome while they decided to go get a treat for the summer day, settling on shaved ice for their meal.

Yoh remembered that one of there was a restaurant near the place of the fire that sold great cold desserts and convinced his friend that would be the place they would order their food from.

Although there were some doubts from Manta's end, Yoh attempted to invite the two spirits, but found only the samurai with Mosuke seemingly leaving for the next life, leaving behind his friend on the mortal plane.

Despite this, Amidamaru seemed happier than usual, being more open in conversation with the two. Whatever the blacksmith said, it was also enough to convince him to come along with Yoh, agreeing to follow him as a loyal retainer.

With that episode over with, the three now sat in the business Yoh decided upon with three orders of shaved ice for every individual in their group to enjoy, including the ghost swordsman.

"So, um… He can taste it?" Manta squinted at the frozen dessert, still unsure as to how this was supposed to work in way possible.

"Of course!" asserted Yoh smiling. "I have his memorial tablet here, and with it he can taste the shaved ice without the need of a physical body. It's actually pretty amazing. Quick and he doesn't even get brain freeze."

Manta watched as the now following spirit arose from the stone and gave a silent prayer before delving into the food. Well, he would be, but he was dead, although despite that fact did he seem to be enjoying himself.

Amidamaru simply thanked his lord, or at least that was what he called Yoh, as he mentally ate happily his frozen dessert, proclaiming he never had taste such a treat in his six hundred years of existence.

Yoh watched as his smaller friend ate his own share of the desserts given to them for free as thanks for saving the children from the day earlier, mostly in thanks to Yoh's reputation growing in the local area.

He himself personally preferred the taste of melon for this type of dessert, but settled for strawberry—a favorite of someone he personally knew—and settled in his seat as the taste of the fruit melted alongside the ice.

It had been an odd two weeks since the incident in the cemetery as did the seventh year manage to convince the legendary samurai to follow him as his "master", although Yoh preferred he call him something else, but the samurai stuck to calling him lord no matter what he pleaded to him.

Manta also seemed to be getting used to the concept of spirits and ghosts rather quickly compared to many others he knew that had the ability, although most others failed to hone the ability to see the dead and those said others that did retain the skill knew of their gift early on before their meeting with him personally.

He always liked to say that it was good people that had the skill to communicate with those who had passed on already, but he also heard of tales of odd shamans out in the world which theoretically prove him wrong as told to him by that same person from before, yet she never questioned its validity despite her opinions on the matter itself.

Yoh soon realized that the longer he stayed here, the more did he think about not only that person, but of the people he left behind. He also remembered that he really shouldn't think of her as a friend, especially given the fact that it was he himself that pushed for that title to be null and void between the two of them as children, deciding such a label would hurt them rather than help them in the long run.

It was a bit embarrassing remembering how different and awkward he used to be around her back then, but it also was nice thinking about the person who he shared such a colorful history with back in Izumo.

He couldn't say that he felt homesick, but he definitely felt a bit odd not having them around here in Tokyo as he living by himself as of right now.

It failed to help that his home here was awfully lonely despite the number of spirits that inhabited the place because of an accident that allowed the place to become available in both sale and price as its size reminded him of his family's home, although the difference being there were at least other people to fill up the space.

He had been wanting to bring Manta there for a while, but had found school life to once again take up much of his time along with doing more supernatural tasks such as making sure some spirits could move on instead of being weighed down by desires in the previous life.

Unlike the school in Izumo, he still had to find a way to make the money needed keep the place from being taken from him or face repercussions. His grandfather had promised him that the family would keep the place running so long as he was staying in the capital city, but he was still wondering just when those payments were going to be dealt with.

His stunt earlier had led to many who heard of his plea for assistance bring forth part-time jobs, but he had to turn them down after remembering his studies will take a beating, for even utilizing the strengths of the student body that roamed the halls could only go so far before his personal needs would be addressed in the eventuality that was exams, for some of the student ghosts refused to help him during testing.

Besides, he also had another subject of study that no one else had to do for he was the only shaman in the area that he could name besides Manta, who really didn't fit the category as he was more likely just more spiritually aware than most.

Furyoku—that which can said to be the concept of how much spiritual energy one has—can be more accurately described as a measure of one's capacity of a sixth sense—the ability to manipulate the soul and other spiritual concepts—with all living beings possessing it to some capacity before returning it back to the soil and the world itself.

It was that which acted as how much could Yoh utilize the abilities of the spirits around him, acting as the sole fuel for his Oversoul. If he ran out, the Oversoul would disappear along with the skills brought by the spirit.

However, he knew he had enough to easily pull off long scale possession, it wasn't as if that was what he only trying to achieve. The short while he had been here, he had personally assisted in spiritual matters which he consulted to his friend afterwards.

Once he had helped a ghost move on after finishing his last work of art, and another time did he help a student get over the death of his master, but all of them were done through the simple usage of possession, easily the simplest thing a shaman could do.

No, that form of Oversoul was not enough. In truth, there was another reason for getting Amidamaru to partner with him other than the fact that he thought it would be fun having a samurai friend around, but he knew even with him that he wasn't ready. He needed something that could pull of what he so desired that resonated with the samurai on a personal level, but he knew that Harusame would have to be returned to the archives eventually, meaning he needed something else unless he replaced the blade with something else entirely.

Another katana would suffice, but the blade he had now was of prime condition and of far superior quality than the rest in the world besides a Murasama or Masumune sword, but the price for those was absurd even with his family's wealth. It didn't help that he hadn't tried what he was planning to do before, meaning he had little clue as to how to pull it off.

"Perhaps if Anna was here," thought Yoh as he pondered on the subject of his Oversoul. "Heh, I wonder how she would feel if she knew I was actually taking my training seriously for once?"

"Are you okay, Yoh?" asked Manta, recognizing that his friend was no longer eating his dessert any more. Yoh swiftly apologized and replied that he was just having something of a brain freeze before gulping down his meal in delight.

Despite desiring to leave without paying, the more responsible of the duo convinced him to pay despite being treated in respect for the damage done, something Yoh couldn't argue against.

Putting on his headphones to listen to a song by Bob, the noise of an argument nearby caught his attention. Walking out of the establishment to find what the commotion was about, the two found a group of punks surrounding a boy with spiky hair of a dark violet color and a briefcase of unusual size.

"What's going on now," groaned Manta. He didn't need any more excitement that day as everyday with Yoh seemed to be more exciting than the next, and today was far from the calmest of them all with the Mosuke incident being done with.

"Damn it you lil' shit!" cried out one of the men. "Look what you've done to my car! How do you expect me to repair this thing without having you pay for it? It's your fault after all!"

Piercing gold eyes from the boy somehow intimidated the man as the former dropped the luggage onto the ground. "If you think that I could formulate any sort of emotion toward your car, you're dead wrong. It's a piece of junk that exhausts more fumes than a coal plant set in flames."

"It doesn't help that you vermin have been nothing more than a pain since I've walked across the street," he continued with vehement aggression. "If the car only blocked the view of the night sky I would just call you like the rest, but all of you have since pestered me after nearly running me over, so I kicked the machine because I don't enjoy the sight of what could have been my end. Now get out of here before I break all of you in two."

Yoh and Manta watched from a distance as the men looked at one another with faces filled with amusement. Manta looked to Yoh to step in, but the latter shook his head as Amidamaru had indicated he felt something was off about the situation.

The samurai for some reason felt danger from the boy who seemed to be Chinese in origin as his accent was nothing any of the three had heard in Tokyo before. His clothing also indicated he was not of the district they were from, instead dressed in a yellow jacket and tie which seemed to indicate he at least regarded himself with some formality.

Before they knew it did the men descend upon the boy, and did he respond with speed. With great skill he knocked down one of the four in a single kick to the chin before landing a series of punches to another, felling him within seconds.

The other two panicked, but he simply pursued them, knocking out both with a strong jab to their throats, a frown still plastered on his face as they began to cough in misery on the street, begging for someone to step in and save them from this child that was the same age group as the two students watching.

Afterwards, he simply dusted himself off before picking up the luggage dropped to the ground. He would've walked away, but the shouting of another man kept him from leaving the scene as the car came charging towards his position.

Now deciding it was time to do something, Yoh looked to Amidamaru, but heard the opening of the suitcase, revealing a connectable guandao which he assembled with a single hand, his other reaching inside his pocket to reveal a memorial tablet.

"No way," Yoh exclaimed as a Chinese general arose from the stone, wearing heavy armor and towering over the boy in such a great size that he trumped Amidamaru in height slightly.

In record speed did the boy create a possession Oversoul with the spirit, facing the oncoming car without fear. Before it could hit him, he simply dashed out of the way and sliced one of the tires open with the weapon, spinning the vehicle and its rider into a wall.

The crash was destructive, destroying a part of a nearby establishment. The driver limped out bleeding, but was knocked unconscious before the foot of his to be victim who proceeded to continuously stomp on his body afterwards.

Then the guandao was raised above the man's body and was prepared to become impaled inside of him before it was stopped in its tracks by Yoh, gripping onto the shaft with as much strength as Amidamaru had granted him.

"Hm, I can tell that you're another another shaman given the fact that you seem to have your own memorial tablet by yourside," noted the Chinese boy. "You're the one with the samurai of six hundred years, correct? He wasn't at his grave, so I'm guessing the reason he was here is because of you."

"It seems Amidamaru is quite famous," smiled Yoh. "Yes, I'm his partner, and I would like you to not kill the man here, even if he did try to run you over. He's already unconscious after all."

"That's not enough though dare I say," replied the boy, anger returning to his voice as he managed to get loose of Yoh's grip. "These roaches fail to recognize the damage they've caused. They muck up this world and the next, lost their spiritual side, and do whatever they want if it pleases their heart's desires in the worst way possible—valuing self-benefit over altruism."

"If I—Tao Ren of the glorious Tao Family—fail to eliminate these idiots and purify this world, I can't call myself Shaman King when the time comes for me the ascend the throne! Don't you agree?"

"Shaman King…" Yoh heard Manta mutter. He realized he hadn't told him of why he was here in the first place, but focused his attention back on the shaman in front of him.

"Well, purifying the world sounds nice on paper, but I don't think this is what I would have in mind," frowned Yoh, a part of him relieved that one of the audience members managed to get the men out of the immediate area. "After all, you can't talk about altruism without forgiveness, and killing people isn't a part of the job application."

"Funny, I would think otherwise," the boy smirked as he eyed the now non-possessing ghost. "I need many strong souls to stand by my side in the war to come, so I demand that you give me your samurai. Call it a tribute to your emperor."

"Well, no, I can't do that."

"…Wait, what?" Ren exclaimed in surprise as he and Yoh's two friends were caught off guard by the response given. "Don't play around. Just hand me your spirit and no one has to die today. That's what you want, correct?"

Yoh simply shook his head in disagreement. "Well screw you for thinking I could do such a thing to my friend. You're messed up if you believe you can start fights without reason and declare yourself the master of Amidamaru."

"Friend?" hissed Ren towards the term. "Spirits aren't friends, only tools. It's a simple fact that we shamans used them as tools for us to become greater than what we are. How can you be a friend to a tool?"

"Oh, I'll show you how," answered Yoh. Grabbing onto the katana's hilt, he unsheathed the sword to reveal a beautiful blade, one made by a true smith of the era. He brought his partner into his Hitodama Mode and allowed him to form an Oversoul.

"If you want to fight, I'll show you how my bonds with my friend here will triumph over your "tools"."

Ren made the first move immediately by swinging his polearm towards Yoh, but the skills of a samurai saved him a bloody death as he managed to block the attack with the blade, causing the two to enter a struggle, a contest of strength. Soon Ren took the lead and shoved Yoh to the side, swinging his weapon frantically towards him.

Yoh parried every single slash with his own weapon of choice. He leapt behind a street light for safety as his opponent's guandao soon became lodged inside the pole. As Ren struggled to remove it, Yoh seized the opportunity by rushing him, but miscalculated how long it would take for Ren to get back his weapon and was pushed into the defensive once again.

A series of thrusts were aimed towards Yoh, but he managed to avoid being skewered, the guandao piercing the car. Yoh became nervous as he realized that the kid was not messing around and meant to legitimately kill him, something he should've realized how the battle was going to be after the stunt he tried to pull earlier.

He leaped out of the way of an incoming strike, but found himself cornered by Ren with a wicked smile aimed towards him. A simple overhead attack was launched, but Yoh knew he would not be able to escape.

"Come on now!" Ren cried out, the guandao connecting to something solid and hard. One look at the scene, however, gave way it was not Yoh which was hit.

The Chinese boy watched in fascination as Yoh simply parried the attack with his sword, sending the boy flying backwards before regaining his footing.

As if that didn't surprise him enough, a swarm of a few dozen spirits came pouring towards Ren in the form of small beings with frowning faces and miniature horns.

Upon making contact, the Chinese boy found that they lacked the strength needed to do any sustainable damage, but they did distract him enough for Yoh to make a comeback, kicking Ren backwards by a few meters.

"Ko-Oni aren't as good as they could be," admitted Yoh after seeing the result of his attack. "Well, shikigami were never my strong point to begin with."

"As if you weren't irritating enough…"

Yoh felt a pain as Ren managed to recover and slash at his ribcage, causing a wound to open on the side of his body. He heard Manta cry out in horror, but paid no attention as he realized being relaxed would get him killed.

Pushing the pain to the back of his mind, the two clashed once more with the length advantage being on Ren's side, but Amidamaru's speed kept Yoh from a thousand deaths as he dodged every attack directed towards him.

However, the injury he sustained had slowed Yoh down, forcing him to block every attack, opening the wound even further. His hands begun to shake as the pain was becoming too much for him to handle, but struggled onward to defeat the boy in front of him.

Upon being backed into a corner once more, a single slam of the guandao onto Harusame was enough to launch Yoh into a wall, a cracking sound causing immense pain for the boy.

"If you think I lacked the ability to fight, you're a fool for thinking such a thing," Ren asserted to his fallen foe. "I can't deny you have potential in combat, but mine shines brighter by a factor of a thousand."

"Like it's over with…" grumbled Yoh as he thought as to how to defeat his foe. He thought for a moment before a single idea came to him thanks to the skills gifted to him by his Guardian Ghost.

"Let's try that out," Yoh thought as he anxiously awaited the next move by his opponent, but was surprised when Ren backed off and instead called out the name of his own Guardian Ghost.

"BASON!" he cried out. "Let us rid ourselves of this fool and gain a new spirit to use in the wars to come!"

The Chinese General materialized in the mortal plane larger than life, the ghost becoming gigantic as a guandao was formed similarly to how Amidamaru had two ghost katanas by his side, showing off the control Ren had over his Oversoul.

The weapon was soon swung towards his general position, leaving Yoh no other choice but to use the technique he inherited from Amidamaru, although he was a bit fearful if he was to fail. Deciding that either way he would die, he went for it.

As the both real and spiritual guandaos came towards him, Yoh unleashed as much strength as he could with his arms by swinging the katana with all his might, a loud sound emitting from the swing that caused Manta to flinch away from the fight.

Suddenly, Ren felt something push against him as he was sent into the air by a shockwave of some sort, being strong enough to move him upwards by at least a meter from sheer willpower by Yoh's part.

Then, grabbing the sheath, Yoh went into an odd position with both the sword and sheath placed by his side with his legs opened. When Ren began to fall towards the ground, Yoh lunged forward.

Swinging both objects at once, both the sword and sheath connected onto Ren's body, ripping apart his jacket and delivering a damaging blow on his stomach, causing the boy to fall onto his knees afterwards. Yoh, however, was far from being in the best shape and simply fell onto the ground, clutching his bleeding side.

"The first move was the Shinkū Buddha Giri," spoke out Manta, amazed by the spectacle that played out before him. "The later was the Gokōjin, the same technique Amidamaru used to become the demon he's known as today!"

"You have to be kidding me," grunted out Ren in pain. "To think there would someone else that has the ability to become Shaman King... This isn't how it was supposed to go."

Before he could react any further, the sounds of sirens alerted the two that their fight was no longer a personal affair. "I hope you understand the power of our friendship now…" Yoh moaned out as he collapsed on the floor, Manta rushing up to his friend.

He really hoped that Ren would understand the message in full, yet a part of him had some doubt as to how far his words pierced the Chinese boy as both were attended to by paramedics. The weapons were taken away as some of the civil workers questioned what they were doing, but decided to save questioning for later.

The thought was not a reassuring one. He could be positive for the most part, but something about Ren just struck him as odd. Something was keeping him from accepting kindness in his life, but without any more knowledge on the guy left Yoh in the dark.

He would think about him more in the night in the hospital, but what was done was done, and the battle between them was over for that day, ending not in the way he desired it to go.

On the other hand though, local newspapers would learn the newly reforged sword in the local archives became repaired overnight by some random kid, with many dubbing the incident as the Miracle of Harusame, although he could've done without the part where they gave the thanks to him.

* * *

 **Author's Notes:** I'm so sorry that it took so long to update, but if you've read by other story— _The Queen and Her Generals_ —you know it was my bad idea to organize files on my computer which made me have to rewrite everything from scratch. I wanted to have gotten this story out by Wednesday, but I really just wanted it to be a good chapter, so it was once again pushed back onto Thursday.

I decided to merge the Mosuke story with Ren's to keep the story from being bogged down in the beginning as I don't want to the story to drag on too long. Personally, I can only really see the story go to five hundred thousand words at most to keep it from becoming too long, but that would mean one hundred chapters, an absurd goal, so it will probably end earlier.

The fight between Ren and Yoh was with Harusame because I thought it made more sense for Yoh to actually stand a chance more so with an actual weapon rather than a pipe. I also didn't have Ren cut through the car because that felt a tad bit too strong, but to be fair, it is a shōnen series and he had been training for quite some time, but I decided to make it less absurd.

The next chapter will arrive on Monday for sure with another chapter on next Wednesday or Friday, for I feel bad about not updating. I do want to update more often, but until I feel more comfortable about my final drafts, it will be updated for the most part only on Mondays so that I can look out for most of the grammatical errors. For those that took the time of day to read this, thank you.


	3. Chapter Three: Change In Pace

**Disclaimer:** The following is a non-profit and fan-based work of fiction not affiliated with the original product. Shaman King is owned and created by Takei Hiroyuki, Shueisha, Madman Entertainment, and Viz Media. Please support the official release.

 **Story Notes:** This fanfiction will be updated every Monday and Friday. For more information, thoughts, and updates, please head to my main profile on and the **Author's Notes** on the bottom. Please enjoy the story.

* * *

 **Chapter Three: Change In Pace**

The ride wasn't as long as originally expected, but it wasn't the most fun she had in the last week.

Following her senior by around three years, the two girls began to walk down the streets of Tokyo in the hopes that the hospital that Yoh was in would be nearby, watching as the cars simply drove past them.

Compared to their life in the more rural areas of Izumo, the sheer energy and haste of the city life felt off to both, although the older of the duo seemed more well adjusted towards the sheer amount of bodies running about while her younger counterpart struggled to keep her composure.

"Anna wouldn't be intimidated by this, would she," did that said girl think about her senior. She silently sighed as she watched the physically seeing itako simply strutted about, seemingly unfazed by the change of scenery.

A beautiful girl of thirteen years of age, with blonde hair and a face that captivates even older men, it was safe to say that Kyōyama Anna was a beauty for her age. Many boys her age had tried to ask her out, only to be sent flying by her infamous slap which gave her a feared reputation.

In comparison, Tamao, a girl born to two parents she failed to recall who shared the family name of Tamamura, felt that she herself was nowhere near as pretty to her, believing she was too tall for her age of eleven as she stood around those far older than her. Her pink hair may also make her stand out, it wasn't as refined as Anna's, something she hated about herself.

If Anna was known for being ice cold, she was known for being a pushover, being pressured by other students by in Izumo many a time thanks to her lack of self-confidence. She remembered many embarrassing situations caused by this social ability which was only furthered by her occupation being one that most of her generation failed to recognize as legitimate.

She knew that Anna also understood her large amount of self-loathing, and was told numerous times to put such thoughts in the back of her mind. To many, it would seem that the older girl was simply uninterested, but Tamao knew it was her own way of comforting her.

They weren't friends, but the amount of years that they have known of each other was great enough for the other to know how their fellow peer behaved, with Anna having a different way of making others feel better, although such treatment was rare in itself.

As they continued their way, one thing became certain as a street they passed seemed awfully familiar to them—they were dead lost.

"She probably doesn't want to be told as such," mentally told Tamao to herself, knowing she would incur her wrath otherwise. One thing she also learned over the years was to never anger Anna in any situation, something her personal Guardian Ghosts refused to do.

Those two weren't with them on this trip to visit Yoh for they would just cause more trouble than good, something Tamao hated to admit, but couldn't deny. Anna personally threatened the two animal spirits to find a way to castrate the dead if they came which gave results she so desired.

It wasn't like they would prove useful in the case of self-defense anyways. If she was to create an Oversoul with them, the attacks would prove useless unless against other users of Oversouls, for they lacked a physical form to cause damage on the mortal plane.

On the case they were attacked, Anna would probably be able to handle them at any rate, so there was no need for worry.

What was worrying was their ability to track down the location of the hospital, however. By this point, both had found themselves to been walking in a circle for the last five minutes, angering Anna.

Looking around for someone to tell them where the place was, Tamao attempted to communicate their problem, but her shyness kept her voice from coming out, instead pointing her fingers rapidly on a sketch pad which had pages of katakana, hiragana, and kanji all for the sake of saving her from speaking.

This only confused pedestrians as they ignored the strange girl, much to her sadness. Anna seemed to be fed up with the concept of walking in a loop and simply asked someone for directions, but became even more angered when they admitted they had no clue where the hospital was.

As they proceeded onwards, Tamao found her footing unable to keep her stable and fell onto the concrete. She shook off the pain, but was given a hand by a random passerby.

"You must be careful, young lady. It is not good for you to—"

The silence caught her attention as the man simply stared down at her. He wore a white suit and a had a pompadour with a rather flat end. He seemed rather old, but a lecherous grin soon grew on his face as the seconds increased.

"WILL YOU BECOME MY GIRLFRIEND!" he screamed out to her in a trance. "A beauty you are! I am looking for a Best Place and I believe you may lead me there!"

She became dead silent as the man continued to profess his love for her. Other citizens watched while others tried to walk ahead, not desiring to become a part of what was going on.

A part of her told herself that she needed to act defensively, but another part simply screamed out that she should just stay still and await help. The first tried to tell off the latter, but was simply proven wrong when Anna came up to the man and slapped him to the ground.

The force was great enough for many to wince at the sight. Those who watched decided to carry on like the rest in the hopes to avoid confronting her now, realizing that the dangerous one was not the man, but the girl.

"Thank you," pointed Tamao. Anna simply shook her head as her associate as she looked down at the man on the floor.

"Tamao, please don't use the sketchpad," stoically stated Anna. "We've known each other long enough for you to have quit that with me at the very least. And you, may I ask what that was? She's eleven and you're in your twenties."

"A-Actually, I'm seventeen," corrected the man, slowly getting up from the ground. "It seems you have a strong arm, beautiful lady. I must admit that was pretty bad of me, but I cannot help myself in the presence of Kudokuten's personal court."

"Still a cradle robber. Tamao here is only eleven and I'm thirteen. That's quite the difference, don't you think?"

"Well, I'd like to think that love has no boundaries," admitted the man with a small smile. "At any rate, what are you doing here anyways?"

Although still afraid of the man, Tamao decided to step up and do something, but once again fell back to her usage of the sketchpad to convey her thoughts, but to her surprise the man seemed to pay attention.

"Hmm, that hospital is not too far from here," said the man with a smile. "I must apologize for my actions lovely ladies, so I shall bring you there to visit whoever you desire. It's the least I can do."

A small smile began to form on her face as she begun to realize she had actually managed to make conversation with someone other than a select few, progress some would call pitiful, progress she saw as a great improvement.

Anna decided to let the man go if he was willing to do this for them, as she had become sick of their journey, walking alongside the other two on the way to the hospital which was only a few blocks away while threating to beat the man down if he was to try that stunt of his again, something he flinched at upon being threatened.

The walk was relatively calm for the most part, the man seemingly kinder than she had originally anticipated, but Tamao couldn't help but still feel a bit odd around the man, but the fact he had taken the time of day to understand he way of communication was enough for her to warm up to him.

Anna, however, seemed somewhat tense. Something about this man, other than the fact that he was simply put one of the biggest perverts she's met in the last few years, had a presence that felt different from the rest, but decided it couldn't be what she thought it was.

Upon arriving at the place did the two thank the man for his directions, to which he only shrugged off before deciding to set out to meet with someone he so desperately wanted to see.

"He's pretty impressive for his age," the man stated with respect. "Younger than me by four years, yet he has something I can't put my finger on. I know he can help me like you'll be helping whoever is here. May I ask who it is?"

"I rather not say," Anna bluntly told the man. "We just met you, so don't think you're close enough to learn why we're here in the first place. You only helped us after approaching her in a manner that if the police were to hear about would put you behind bars."

"Maybe, but now I must see that young Yoh if I am to be rid of my problems. Farewell then young—"

"Repeat that again."

The man turned around to see both of the girls with differing expressions—one of suspicion and one of shock. Confused, he simply stood in place while delivering his answer.

"Well, the boy's name is Yoh. I know you wouldn't believe it, but I believe he has some supernatural connections due to something that occurred not too long ago. I know he can help me with a certain problem, as there has been talk of him helping others out in similar ways without cost, something admirable the more you think about."

"Yoh," Tamao finally spoke out loud, seemingly entranced by the name. Anna on the other hand raised her eye at the thought of him doing such work, but reminded herself he truly was a good soul before a lazy one, even if he desired to be the latter more.

"Wait, don't tell me he's here!"

Before Anna could stop him, the man simply brushed past her and ran up the stairs, ignoring the warnings of the receptionist downstairs as he began to scream out the name of his associate, much to the annoyance of the staff.

"Let's go up before he causes any more trouble," muttered Anna as she simply walked up to the receptionist to ask where that said boy was. Upon being told he was on the third floor, she thanked the woman before calling for an elevator to take them up.

Tamao began to jitter as the thought of seeing him filled her mind. "What will he say? Will he recognize me? No, of course he will, but I doubt that he would even care about me being here…"

"You know, if you think I can't read your mind, you're dead wrong, even if that power of mine has been gone for a bit."

Upon hearing her voice, the pink-haired girl reached for her sketchpad before remembering what Anna reminded her earlier on the street. "I… I thought you don't like bringing up that anymore?"

"…No," admitted Anna, the silence biting away at her junior. "But you heard that from Yoh already, and it doesn't matter anymore. It's not like it bothers me by this point."

The elevator door opened to the sight of the man running across the hall, barging into a room where he pronounced the patient was okay, signaling to the two just where their goal was located.

While Tamao froze up, Anna simply walked into the room without fear, carrying the bag she brought with her into the room as dead silence soon took over.

Upon hearing the shouting did Tamao realize it was time for her to enter as well.

* * *

Yoh panted as he looked around him to make sure the coast was clear before sitting down on a bench next to Manta, taking a sip of the juice he bought for himself to enjoy.

The two friends drank their respective drinks in silence as the events beforehand raced through their minds. It had been a miracle Yoh managed to escape the room from the grasp of Anna, but he knew how to flake out on people better than any other in Japan, something he semi-prided himself on.

"So," Manta broke the silence. "Fiancé? At thirteen? Queen?"

"First Lady," corrected Yoh. "Yeah, I forgot to tell you about here, didn't I. Yep, that's Anna, my fiancé of about I would say three years since we met in 1995?"

"You would've be ten! How in the world did the two of you get your parents to agree to an engagement at such a young age, or better question being what did she threaten you with for you to get such a deal?"

"Nothing actually. An arranged marriage was done by my family to further, what, the bloodline? Yeah, that. At any rate, she and I will get married when I become Shaman King and she will become the First Lady, as technically Shaman Queen is just any girl who becomes, well King, but instead Queen… you know what I mean."

Manta stared at his friend with interest in the term. "It's not the first time someone brought that up. That jerk, Ren, brought it up when the two of you fought a few days ago. What is Shaman King?"

Yoh looked at the lights with a blank expression, trying to come up with the correct words to describe the title. It was one he knew well for he himself had an affinity with it like most shamans do.

"Well," he began the lecture. "Shaman King is effectively an omnipresent being who is closest to the Great Spirt, or God per say. Every five hundred years we have a tournament to decide who becomes Shaman King and replaced the old."

"Omnipresent…" muttered Manta in shock, a thought coming to him. "Wait, those dates would coincide with Buddha and Christ, maybe even Muhammad if we were to assume it's not exactly five hundred years. If we're to stretch things even more, maybe Luther. Were they all Shaman King?"

"I wouldn't really know," Yoh confessed to his friend. "I wouldn't be surprised if they were strong shamans, but I couldn't say for sure. I didn't really look any of them up because history is kinda boring to me."

"Of course it is for you. Well, why is she here anyways? I can't imagine it's for anything good if she brought up what she wants you to become upon entering the room."

"Well, she did bring Tamao, so I'm guessing it's not just for training, but she made me do some hellish stuff back in Izumo. I can't imagine doing five-kilometer laps or air squats for five minutes again…"

Manta shivered at such punishment. Not even the kendō club both were a part of was so brutal that such exercise was endorsed, and their school was one that prized athletics just as much as academics unlike other schools.

"Well, to be fair to her, she definitely will bring you into shape despite your lazy attitude," Manta had to admit, smiling at the thought of Yoh putting more effort into doing work. "In all honesty, your family probably struck out when they met her—so diligent that she can make you push yourself beyond your limits."

Yoh simply shrugged as the two walked back into his room, carrying a can of juice that Anna personally asked for out of Manta earlier which gave him his first impressions.

Upon entering the place, however, they simply found a distraught Ryu, a timid Tamao, an annoyed Anna, and a bound Amidamaru who was seemingly captured by the itako.

"Come on, Anna!" Yoh shouted at his fiancé. "I wasn't going to run off! I just needed some time by myself, nothing more."

His future wife drank the juice out of the can without even giving thanks, throwing the can away within seconds after downing the liquid. "I'm not sorry to say your word is not enough, Mister I can hide from training within a minute so don't tell anybody while I'm gone."

"…Really, I said that like two years ago. I mean, it was my birthday."

She shrugged as the girl made herself comfortable. "Ryu, can you go get me another drink along with one for Tamao? The two of us are quite parched from our journey."

"Y-yes Miss Anna," the man whose moniker was the feared "Wooden Sword" said before fleeing the room to get what wanted, not hoping for any sort of punishment after getting to know the girl better.

Sitting down on a chair, Yoh stared at the girl in front of him with confusion. "Why are you here to help me train anyways? Yes, I know you want me to become Shaman King—I wanted the job before I met you—but I have been taking things seriously. I helped many others with their problems with possession nearly every day."

"And possession is one of the easiest skills one can learn as a shaman," she stated coldly. "You may be able to create the earliest stage of an Oversoul, but I bet you haven't even been able to even make a Weapon-Type, have you?

"Weapon-Type?" questioned Manta before seeing his friend simply shake his head in shame, a depressing look now adorning his face. Tamao wanted to say something to cheer him up, but knew this was the results Anna wanted out of him.

"Even Tamao can form an Oversoul with the idiots back home, but you still haven't. Your grandfather won't be pleased to learn that even with such a strong Guardian Ghost, you can't even initiate such a form. It doesn't even make sense given the fact that your Furyoku is great enough to create one by this point."

"Wait, what is any of this stuff?" Manta burst out loud. He looked around for some answers, but found that Anna nor Tamao was going to give him one, and Amidamaru was still sulking to himself over being captured so easily by this witch.

Yoh, deciding his friend had a right to learn more, stepped up to explain. "Furyoku is just the ability one has to manipulate spirits with. Everything is born with it, but it usually can't be increased unless putting yourself through difficult training."

"And when he means difficult, he means life-threatening," added Anna. "Whippings, beatings, whatever you name it, becoming close to death's grasp can bring about great spiritual power, not mentioning what would happen if someone can tap into their former life before reincarnation."

"Oversouls are something you're familiar with already," Yoh continued. "The ability to use a spirit in some tangible form, the weakest being possession, and one of the more basic forms is a Weapon-Type."

"Tamao here has the ability to use two animal spirits to form a bow," he pointed towards the shy girl. She quickly shook her head, trying to avoid further attention, but Manta was already to far gone in his interests to ignore her, but found that the most noticeable thing was a deep red blush on her cheeks.

"Anyways, you know when we had Harusame? Well, I wanted to keep it around because it would've been a good medium to create a Weapon-Type, because we need, well, a weapon for it. I'm not great with Spirit-Types like how Ren summoned Bason late in our fight, so I thought I could train to summon it."

"So that explains it," proclaimed Manta, now knowing why Yoh seemed so fascinated by the sword. Anna took further interest in his claims, but a frown only grew as the seconds went by.

"If you think you can just create a Weapon-Type Oversoul, you're sorely mistaken," she asserted to her fiancé. "You're going to need more training and more Furyoku to do that, and that's why I'm here—to bring you into shape needed to increase your potential."

Yoh wanted to complain that she was too harsh, but knew in his mind that she was right—he lacked the current skills to do such things. If he was to become Shaman King, he needed to train to complete the more advanced form, and Anna was trained by his grandmother, someone who most definitely knows what type of training is needed for such an accomplishment.

Looking to her left, he remembered that Tamao had accompanied her, the pink-haired girl he had known for more years than Anna simply looking away in embarrassment upon seeing him turn to face her.

"Uh, why did you bring her if you're going to train me?"

"Oh, she'll be living with us for a bit while the training commences is all."

"Huh," Tamao exclaimed in surprise. She turned to face Anna with questions, but found only reassurance on her face. "A-Anna, what do you mean?"

"I mean you'll be transferring schools along with me while we get this lazy bum into shape," she answered with confidence laced in her voice. "From now on until the next Shaman Fight arrives, you'll be helping with chores around his mother's former house while I assist in his training. You'll go to Funbari Academy with me to enroll in the second semester for your fifth year while I join Yoh here in seventh. It's not a big deal."

"I… I… I h-have to make new f-friends again…"

"A small price to pay to make my dear Yoh become Shaman King."

Trying to process this new change in his life, the awkward scene was lifted when Ryu arrived back with the juice cans in hand. Tamao brokenly took hers as she seemed as if she was going to burst into tears, but seemed to be holding back such feelings, saying to herself that it was for the Asakura Clan, the people who saved her life.

"May I ask why she seems so sad?" Ryu asked the group, but the rest assured him it was probably going to be alright once she settled down, but most felt pity for the girl who was being told she was forced to move away from the only place she knew of as home.

"Huh. Oh yes, I must ask you, Yoh, for your assistance!"

"I'm all ears," said Yoh hesitantly, wondering just what his former foe desired out of him to come here to begin with. Manta also felt curious about this as Ryu seemed to be calmer now than he did not too long ago, more approachable compared to the "Wooden Sword" Ryu they met at the cemetery.

"Well, it all began when me and my gang were looking for a Best Place after you defeated me," Ryu started, remembering how his friends and himself were distraught after losing. "We had found what my gang desired to be our Best Place, but I had to remind them that it would not work."

"Funbari Bowl," he reminisced. "An abandoned bowling alley which seemed fine for it had electricity and everything, but it's too far from any convenience stores or the station, meaning it was no good for my friends to live for the rest of their days. If I allowed them to rot away too far from civilization, they won't be able to find themselves jobs to make something of themselves."

"When did Ryu become such a good guy?" Manta silently asked his friend. Yoh simply shrugged before answering back that he didn't seem like too bad of a villain when they first met anyways, with Amidamaru also chipping in that he did leave with relative respect for his master after the fight.

"But I decided to allow them to hang out there for the time being for them to gain back spirit after losing our battle with you. There began some odd things—first the lights began to flicker, then in the bathroom was an odd screeching of something, before finally a chill ran down my back as I heard something."

"A ghost?" Yoh questioned, realizing something ominous had occurred to the gang leader. The intensity of these occurrences meant whatever happened was not some weak ghost, but instead something or someone of great Reiryoku—the spiritual strength of all spirits.

"Perhaps, but I didn't see anyone behind me or around. It was as if he had no form, unlike good Amidamaru over there next to Manta."

"I see now… Wait, what did you just say."

"Please tell me you're joking," Anna spat out, realizing what Ryu had just replied. For all the things to learn of, the fact that the perverted fool also had the capacity to do such a thing was beyond her.

"RYU CAN SEE GHOSTS?" Manta screamed at the top of his lungs as if that was the most surprising thing he heard that day. Ryu smirked as he crossed his arms with pride, happy with the fact that he himself was spiritually gifted.

"I wondered why I felt something about you when we met," Anna exclaimed. "It was an odd feeling, but to think that you have enough Furyoku to see Amidamaru means that the reason behind you being able to hear all those things without being possessed by whatever is there would mean…"

As Manta and Amidamaru stared in shock at this revelation, Yoh simply laughed as he realized what this meant.

"Well then, I guess you might be a shaman then, Ryu!"

"Huh?" blurted out the newly discovered shaman. "Wait, I know that being able to see ghosts is a gift only a few have, but a shaman? I'm confused, what does that mean?"

"It means that you have the ability to use the dead to do cool stuff effectively, like using the same technique I used against you in the cemetery."

The man became silent as he processed what that meant for him. He looked at his hands for a moment before gripping them tightly, an air of joy and gratification surrounding him as he began to bolt out of the room.

Sounds of shrieks of excitement echoed throughout the building with doctors calling for the removal of the man to stop disturbing the patients, leaving behind the fours kids and spirit in the room.

"Well, this is not how I expected this day to go," Anna muttered to herself. "Now I learn you have a potentially insane man that is going to visit you from here on out."

"I'm going to call Lord Yohmei to get Ponchi and Conchi," pointed out Tamao, getting Anna's permission to go ask the staff for a phone while giving Yoh one last glance before leaving.

"Well, I better get going then," Manta told his friend. "My family won't be too happy about me staying here for too long, so I guess I'll see you tomorrow. Probably do me some good as it gives me times to actually think about everything I learned today anyways."

The two friends said there goodbyes as only Yoh and Anna remained in the room, alone with only the continuously cry of joy by Ryu keeping them company along with the samurai spirit that went back into his tablet.

Before Anna could walk out of the room, she felt Yoh's hand grab hers, stopping the girl in her tracks.

"May I ask what you're doing?" she asked the boy, not turning around to face him.

"I just wanted to tell you something," replied Yoh, a small smile on his face. He walked forward to which Anna did as well, the two leaving the room simultaneously.

"It's nice to see you again. I missed you."

"…Yeah, same here."

As they walked out, a handful of the staff was surprised by the sight of the boy seemingly leaving the hospital, but were kept busy by the still excited suited man, effectively the entire floor trying to keep him down.

Anna quickly took her hand away from him, but kept close to her fiancé as they left the building.

Yoh could have swore he saw something akin to a smile, but decided not to say anything.

* * *

 **Author's Notes:** I decided to have Tamao arrive earlier for I think she was a character that could've had more time dedicated to, given the role she plays after the main events of the original series and in the sequel— _Flowers_ —but don't think she'll become too important of a player, for she won't be some beyond godlike monster, just around earlier with different interactions.

I like to think she and Anna from the beginning had a better relationship that the rest with the itako. She seems to appreciate Anna for what she is, and the latter seemed to be an influential figure for her in the original series, a role model of sorts.

The last scene in this chapter was just something I really wanted to do with Anna, for while she wouldn't smile too often, I like to think after so many years of knowing each other she could do such things around him once a while, although I don't want to make their relation all fluff, for they really don't appeal to me in the sense that they're constantly kissing or doing stuff like that. I loved how they were simply nonchalant about their engagement, and most especially how it was never jeopardized in the original source.

Ryu's story is also starting now with his powers already emerging because this is where events will start to change a bit more than usual. It will still have a familiar feel, but I will admit this is where the Alternate Universe part of the fanfiction really kicks into gear for events will start happening differently at varying times.

I do apologize for not updating last week at the deadline and will try to get another chapter on Friday. For those who took the time of day to read this, thank you.


	4. Story Update

If anyone who has read and desires to keep up with my stories are confused over the lack of updates over the last few weeks, it was and is due to a real-life event that occurred within the family. Now, it was no tragedy of sorts, but it was big enough to catch my attention and I decided to focus on assisting my folks foremost. The details are something I rather not disclose for this is a private matter, but know the issue has mostly gone away, although there is still a bit of hesitance for me and my family to just ignore it.

While this was going on I tried to continue writing the two stories I have now: _The Queen and Her Generals_ and _They Who Commune With Ghosts_ while simultaneously planning for a future story on the game _The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim_. I actually have a few chapters typed for both and a draft for the latter, but I cannot deny looking back on it that writing was not on my mind during the period of strife in my family, and the quality is shockingly low. As such, I would like to refine them even more so that you would find it to be of great distinction and enjoyability. Know, however, that I have decided to take a little break from writing to calm myself, as I have also decided to plan ahead more so that such incidents will not hurt the update schedule. As such, it may be a while before the next real updates to the stories, once again my apologies.

I know most of you don't care for such things and may not even mind the update schedule hiccups too badly as I myself have waited months for certain stories to be checked upon by their fellow authors, but I don't want to abandon these stories or bring about such grueling waiting periods when I had worked on these works for quite some time. Perhaps I may be melodramatic here, but I do feel bad that I just haven't communicated the reason behind a lack of commitment. I can't deny a part of me may just be lazy and tired, but I do wish to bring this story out to you. Many may even hate what I write and I'm fine with that; everyone likes something different, and they may have just, reasonable, and intelligent criticisms on my works. I just want to celebrate that which I have fondness for.

As such, to those who are following my stories, I'm not looking for sympathy or get-well messages because it is not I who needs them; I'm simply someone who gave similar things to someone I love. I just felt I needed to give you an explanation. To those who took the time of day reading this, I thank you for your time spent here, and wish you an amazing, productive, happy, and lovely New Year.


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